Seasons of Love
by thewarchangedpeople
Summary: The everyday loves and lives of the characters of The Avengers.
1. Prologue

Loki sighed. Four weeks felt like four months in this dump. His mischief and jealousy had cost him nearly everything. _Odin despises me._ The events of his life flashed before him. The longest conversation he'd had with Odin was when he'd yelled at him. It broke him. The words he had said._ "Because I'm the monster parents tell their children about at night. You know, it makes sense now, why you favoured Thor all these years. Because no matter how much you claim to love me, you could never have a Frost Giant sitting on the throne of Asgard." I miss my family. My adopted family. I only met my real father for a few minutes, and then I killed him. He was a frost giant._ A thought crossed his mind. _I'm a frost giant too._

"Good afternoon, brother," Loki was jolted out of his thoughts by Thor striding into his cell. He nodded at him. "What is wrong, brother?"

A tear pricked Loki's eye. Thor had become soft. _Do I regret his softness? _He shook his head, partly to clear it, partly to dismiss Thor's question. "Nothing. Just thinking." He looked up and grinned. "What events pass in the world above?"


	2. Chapter 1

Tony's eyes blinked open. He stretched and lay on his back. He glanced to his right and saw the sun bouncing off Steve's face. He smiled at how beautiful and peaceful the former soldier looked. Steve rolled onto his left side and raised his head. Putting his arm on Tony's waist he blinked upwards.

"Morning," Steve croaked before Jarvis gave the usual information on the weather and time. Tony waited until he'd finished, anticipating the sound of something breaking from the kitchen, which it inevitably did. "Honestly, butterfingers." Steve rolled his eyes.

Tony smiled and pulled himself closer, so he could feel Steve's breath on his skin. He leaned down to brush his lips against Steve's forehead, but instead he met his lips. Tony smiled as he pushed his lips against Steve's in a soft but passionate embrace.

"Sir," Tony and Steve jolted apart as Jarvis interrupted the moment. "Butterfingers is trying to make toast, and I'm worried he might scramble his circuits, or worse, mine."

Tony sighed and got up. "I swear, one day, I'll fry his circuits!" Steve sniggered. "What? What?"

"It's just funny. The 'threats'. You love him really," Steve grinned, rolling over and out of the bed.

"BUTTERFINGERS!" Peter's voice resounded from the kitchen. "I swear, one day, I'll … turn you into a wine rack." Steve attempted to stifle a laugh, but it burst out and filled the room with laughter.

Calming himself down Steve blurted out, "He's _your_ son!"

"_My_ son?" Tony smirked disbelievingly. He glanced at Steve who raised his eyebrow. "Yeah, okay," He shrugged. Walking out the door, Tony yelled, "Butterfingers get out of the kitchen! If you've broken anything to do with Jarvis, or anything old and expensive this time I will soak your motherboard, do something bad to you and donate you to a city college!" A few seconds later a loud, angry gasp echoed from the kitchen.

It was a mess. Worse than usual. Milk and chlorophyll were spilt in a big mess on the floor in front of the fridge; crockery lay smashed, including a couple of the Stark family's most beloved mugs. In the middle of the anarchic mess was Butterfingers, looking decidedly down and scared. The walls seemed to have feathers stuck to them, but Steve thought that was from last night, and there was obvious water splatters near the toaster, out of which chunks of badly burned bread protruded.

Tony was fuming. "_You!_" He tried to threaten it but no words came.

"Peter, can you take your dad into the sitting room?" Peter nodded and, as Peter guided Tony out of the kitchen and down the hall, Steve wondered how he was going to clear up this mess without 'killing' Butterfingers himself.


	3. Chapter 2

Natasha jolted upright. She had had the same dream for the past month. _More like a flashback. _The experience always left her exhausted and covered in sweat. There was also this strange feeling, something she had never felt before and it was getting stronger with every dream/flashback she had. It left her wanting to but unable to talk to Clint. _Is this love?_ She thought the same question Loki had asked her, the same question that started off every dream/flashback. What had been her answer? _Love is for children. I owe him a dept. _Was that entirely true?

"Do I love Clint?" She spoke her thought. _The unfelt feeling. The fact I can't seem to speak to him. Is this love?_

_I have to talk to him. Tell him. _Natasha persuaded herself as she strode into S.H.I.E.L.D.'s ground Headquarters. She knew she looked as she usually did, black cat suit with two loaded guns, one on the outer side of each leg, but she felt different. It was weird. She behaved normally, for her, nodding at those who said, "Good morning," as she made her way to the main Hub, where Clint sometimes was, when he wasn't in his nest.

Dr Eric Selvig was who she was looking for. He always knew where Agent Clint Barton was. She found him underneath the bonnet of a car in the Hub, working on something.

"Dr?" She interrupted Eric from his work. He peered at her from underneath the bonnet. "Where's Barton?"

"Hawkeye? In his nest," Eric muttered a reply from behind the screwdriver in his mouth. "Can you pass me that wrench please?" Natasha picked up the adjustable wrench on the sideboard and gave it to an outstretched hand. Eric took it and gave her the screwdriver. "I think he's up there fixing his bow. It got damaged on his last mission to Rio."

"Thank you, Doctor." Natasha made her way to 'Hawkeye's nest'. It was the place everyone knew Clint Barton went to to watch the comings and goings of people in the Hub and the four other rooms on that floor. Everybody knew where it was. Only a few went near it. Only a couple knew how to get to it. Natasha being one. It was a place to contemplate thoughts, whilst watching others.

She climbed up the rope. It was strong. Made from the same material as the string on Hawkeye's bow. Stronger than rope, it could hold up to twelve tonnes for over an hour. Clint was there as expected.

'Hawkeye's nest' was small. Big enough for 3 full grown people, but small. It housed three quivers full of arrows, extra rope and a back pack with food and water in it. A tripod was set up in a corner, with a barely used telescope on it. Clint's bow lay fixed, on the floor in front of him, ready for use, and he stroked an arrow between his fingers.

"Hi," he acknowledged her. She sat herself down, cross-legged next to him, her knee just touching his, closer than usual. "What's up?"

_Strange question._ "Nothing," She replied, perplexed.

"Oh." He shrugged, and focussed on Eric fixing the car in the Hub down below. "Came to think?"

"Talk to you actually," she replied, taking the gun out of her right leg's holster and removing the magazine from it. He watched her, and put his hand on her arm. She looked at him and saw he was looking at her.

She moved her gaze back to the gun. "You've been different around me since we got back from the battle in New York. Did something Loki say change you?" Clint's voice was soft and enquiring.

She nodded her agreement. "Yeah." She took a deep breath. "And also something I said to him. I keep having this flashback as a dream, and it … seems to be changing me." She paused. He gestured for her to continue. "I said, 'Love is for children. I owe him a dept.' to Loki, and well I'm starting to believe only part of that is true."

She saw his hand move up to her chin, and felt the soft touch move her face so she was looking at him. She was looking into his eyes. She had never noticed how beautiful they were before, but now she did. It was like staring into universes. She had a sudden desire to kiss him, just as she felt his hand move her face towards his. She took control of her head and leaned in, meeting his lips.

The kiss was unlike anything she had felt in her life. Soft and warm, yet hard and passionate. Begging for more, and yearning never to let go. Her emotions were running wild. Apart from one. Telling her to kiss harder. To never let his lips go. Never let him go.

She put her arms round his neck and felt his hands on her waist, both of them pulling each other closer.


	4. Chapter 3

Bruce's house was perfect. It was just the right distance away from New York that he wouldn't hurt anyone, but near enough so there wasn't so far to travel. It was shaped like a cube, and made from an alloy of steel and the unnamed element Tony Stark had invented. Stronger than any other metal alloy, it could contain the other guy. The house was run by Jarvis, and had a direct underground track to the Stark tower. It was the best house for him.

Bruce fitted the unnamed element into the reactor. Another one finished. This would run his house for a year, maybe two, before needing another element replacement. _We really need a name for this element_. The only trouble was that its atoms weren't very stable, and so the element kept reacting with the hydrogen in the air.

_Arcium. _A name for the element came to mind. _Have to tell Tony._ Bruce placed his work tools down on the bench, and made his way to the underground train that ran from his house to the Stark tower.

Bruce stumbled into the workroom at Stark Industries. Stopped. Widened his eyes. Turned around and coughed.

Steve had Tony pressed up against the wall. They were encased in a passionate embrace, mouths pressed up against each other, yearning for more. They pushed each other away when they heard Bruce cough. Steve nodded at Bruce.

"Steve," Bruce nodded, making his way over to the workbench. Tony joined him there. "I've thought of a name for the element." He saw Tony gesture for him to carry on. "Arcium."

Tony tilted his head. "Yeah. That works." He picked up a copper wire off the workbench. "What do we call the alloy then?"

Bruce shrugged. "What about Bark?" Steve asked. "It's Barton and Stark combined."

Tony and Bruce looked at each other and shook their heads. "Nah," they said in unison.

Steve gave a half smile that widened to make a full grin. "What about Staton?" he asked gleefully. Both Tony and Bruce nodded in agreement. Staton it was.


End file.
